NEWS

30 Rock Episode 5.10 Recap

It’s Christmas at 30 Rock, and that means Jack’s mom is coming. Remember Jack’s mom? Colleen? They don’t get along. It’s partially because Jack ran her over with a car. It’s partially because Jack recently discovered his Secret Dad, although Jack and Secret Dad don’t really get along. Secret Dad is a hippie who in this episode kisses Jack’s cheek (unprecedented!) while Jack’s Christmas cards say “Happy holidays!” and then, inside “… is what terrorists say. Merry Christmas!”

So Colleen shows up, and Jack—under pressure from Liz and Avery—tells his mom that Avery is pregnant. His mom is ashamed that Jack would knock up an Episcopalian without even marrying her, and so there is only one thing Jack can do: make Christmas Eve dinner into a Christmas Attack Zone. Which means secretly inviting his Secret Dad to dinner with Colleen. So many secrets! Such an attack zone! Also, for no reason, Liz shows up in Jack’s Christmas Attack Zone, because she’s taking the late bus or something. She gets lost in his house with a pseudo-menorah. It’s not important.

Tracy and Jenna have little subplots too. Tracy is a “serious actor” now that he has been nominated for a Golden Globe—you can tell because he wears a beret and pronounces it “ac-TOR.” But secretly, he just wants to be in movies where he wears a fat suit and falls down the stairs. And Jenna misses her ex, because she has a great couple’s costume idea for the New Queer’s Eve party. It involves blackface, but that is somehow not a problem!